LondonLad60

Yes, definitely - apart from formal nights I always wear short sleeved shirts in the evening.

On a Transatlantic cruise some years ago (with P&O) I was playing bridge with a couple who were on their first ever cruise. A 24 night cruise, as their first ever? That's brave, I thought, but that's for another day. On the way home, about three days out from Southampton I jokingly asked if they had starting packing yet. The lady replied, yes, after all, we have seven cases to pack. Seven, I replied incredulously? Yes, she said.- as it's our first cruise, we didn't know what to pack, so we packed just about everything, including a full size suitcase with just her shoes...

I'm sure you are correct. When we docked in Tilbury last month after our last cruise, as we were on the landbridge heading for the terminal we saw two rather large police officers striding purposefully towards the ship. I wondered, had someone been naughty in the last few days? Once we had left Gibraltar any miscreants couldn't be put off the ship, so possibly they would have been kept confined to cabin with a couple of security crew stationed outside. This could well be pure speculation on my part, but it looked to me like the officers clearly had some business on the ship.

Yes, I would have thought so They are usually very helpful over the phone.

If you booked directly with Saga you should have been asked which bed configuration you prefer. As twotravellersLondon says though, you have plenty of time to sort it out. If you don't mind me asking, which cruise have you booked?

I find two or three pre-dinner gin & tonics give me an even better appetite...

Thanks for the clarification.

I may be wrong, but that's not how I understand it. On a previous cruise we were talking to a couple who had pre-booked a table. They said they had to be seated by 7:30pm, not that they had to vacate it by then. If not seated by that time, the table could be offered to other diners. Also, they said if they had booked a speciality restaurant, they would tell the maitre'd as a matter of courtesy so their table could be offered to other diners from 6:30pm.

The main dining room operates a single open sitting, from 18:30 to 21:00. Just turn up whenever you like. You are asked if you would like to share, but my wife and I always ask for a table for two, and in 6 Saga cruises we have only had to wait for a table for two once, and even then it was only for about ten minutes. Be aware, some of the tables for two are so close together they may as well be tables for four! We have occasionally been shown to tables like this in the past, so we have politely asked for another table, and this request has never been refused. When you book the speciality restaurants, just say you want a table for two. We always do this, and have never been asked if we wish to share. Hope this helps.

Got off SoD in Tilbury yesterday. It was smoother than getting off at Portsmouth back in January - at least we didn't have to get shuttle buses from the ship to the baggage hall.

I don't mind dressing up per se, but there are some nights when I just can't be bothered. On a P&O Caribbean cruise (I think it was in 2019) there were three formal nights in the space of five nights - that was too many. At least on Saga, The Grill offers the same menu as the Grand Dining Room on formal nights; in fact, one of the best meals we had on our last cruise was in The Grill on a formal night.

I'll go for The Grill - saves getting dressed up...

That Aida ship was there when we were in Tallinn last June. One of the crew told us that it was abandoned there at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

I've been to Tallinn three times, and I've never seen it as quiet as it looks in your photos. On one occasion there were eight (yes, EIGHT!) cruise ships in, and the city was absolutely heaving. The reason was, in 2018 Trump and Putin held a summit in Helsinki. We were supposed to stop in Helsinki but that clashed with the summit, so ships that should have gone to Helsinki went to Tallinn instead.

To me, the sail out from Stockholm is one of the highlights of any Baltic cruise.

One could be forgiven for thinking that P&O's customer service policy could be something like, 'We are attracting a new, younger cruising demographic, so why worry if we lose a few older and established customers? There are plenty of potential younger and family cruisers out there'.

Just looked as Fred's website and it seems that smoking is still allowed on balconies. That's what has put me off cruising with Fred.

That's what the cynic in me is thinking - they might be sprucing them up to make them more attractive to potential buyers.

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity...

Install the NHS app on your phone - you can get it here: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/ Create login id's for yourself and the other person. When these are created, login and select Get Covid pass Select Travel This will bring up a screen with your name, date of birth, a 2d barcode, the expiry date, which vaccine, which dose and date of vaccine. You may need to scroll the display a little so that all this info is visible. Take a screenshot, which will be saved to your photo gallery (this is on an Android phone - an iPhone may possibly be different). Repeat for 2nd person. Hope this helps (it's not as difficult as it sounds!).

Thanks Denarius.

Does The Club restaurant still have balconies overlooking the Grand Dining Room? SoD went into dry dock in January after her Xmas/New Year cruise, and there was a rumour that The Club was going to have a full floor installed to make The Club.more like The Supper Club on SoA. Or was this just another cruise ship rumour?

Rule Britannia!

I'll keep my Covid pass up to date just in case.